Marathon training/nutrition page 2

[jessher]

Dullahan,
I would say the most amount of carbs I eat in a day is 150. That is not low carb unless you compare it to the average recreational athlete. Most day I cam close to 50g.
Honestly, I try not to pay much attention because I trust my body to adjust as needed. I do make a somewhat conscious choice to eat more carbs (and more food in general) on heavier workout days, but I don't turn it into something to stress about. It's hard, because I love what my body looks like on low-carb (under 50g) paleo, and I have to let that go when I choose to train for something. I can still fast for 16 hours most days, and have felt no ill affects from that.

[jgremillion]

I have trouble with drinking to much Gatorade on my last few half marathons. So I started eating a little sweet potatoes a few more days before a race. On race morning I take a packet of Stinger Honey about an hour before the race and take Gatorade around mile 6 and mile ten. If I feel like I need hydration other then that, I just take water.

Maybe you can carry a little Stinger Honey packet with you. What ever you decide to do, try it before your race.

[MDog]

I just want to point out that Gatorade is an inferior energy drink for endurance runs lasting more than an hour. A good energy drink for runners should not contain any fructose. Some good drinks to try are ELoad or CarbBoom. Check out what they are carrying at your local running store. If you are interested in fuelling with carbs during the race then energy gels are the way to go. You should take one about 15 min. prior to your event and then have one every 40 min. or so washed down with water. I'm not trying to suggest that you have to go high carb to run, however, it will give you a boost on race day.

[runnergal]

What you eat when you train and what you eat on race day are entirely different things. I would say for your long runs you do NOT need to increase your carbohydrates pre-run. (POST long run is different) If you feel you have to, then you are doing your long runs too fast. Despite Mark's anti marathon stance most of the current good training programs are VERY primal compatible since all but a couple workouts per week are done EASY....read right around that 75% mark.

Right at around 18 miles during training is the earliest I take supplemental fuel. Water only on anything less. And that was BEFORE I went PB.

What you eat during the race is a different matter. I use gu (roughly every 7 miles). I will continue to use gu...the speed of absorption is nothing to sneeze at. However, when I am racing I am running a good 90 seconds to 2 minutes per mile faster than on a long run.

That being said, your goal is to finish. I hate to say it that bluntly, but there simply isnt time to build a solid running base between now and a May marathon. There are a few decent programs out there but I would say...run. Frequently. Slowly. Occasionally run hard. Like once a week. Build your SLOW long run to NO MORE THAN 3 hours. (if you are fast, cut off by 18 miles) That may be shorter than a lot of first marathon plans that insist you hit 20 miles before the race. With the lack of running base (we are not talking FITNESS here we are talking sport specific muscle and tendon development) runs longer than 2 1/2 to 3 hours will be over taxing with little reward.

If you are continuing to do any Xfit during this time I would cut back to 2 days a week and then run all your runs easy. You dont need to worry about "building speed" at this point. Building speed with excessive speedwork is like making a lego stack 1 brick wide. You can only get so high before it falls over. Build your running base with long slow work....that is building a platform